Understanding gamma ray sources could be the key to unlocking mysteries such as the nature of dark matter, how black holes can accelerate matter to near the speed of light, and how solar flares generate dangerous high-energy particles.

The research can also answer fundamental questions about the composition and dynamics of our own Milky Way galaxy.

"The center of the galaxy is an incredibly busy place, a crowded place," NASA's Ritz said. "We know that there is a supermassive black hole at the core of our galaxy and quite a lot of high-energy processes going on."

In the new map created using Fermi data, the bright band across the center reveals very high-energy gamma rays coming from the core of the Milky Way.

"This radiation is due mostly to gamma rays generated by the collision of high-energy cosmic rays with dust and gases" swirling around the supermassive black hole, Michelson said.

The map, he noted, also shows the Vela pulsar, "a rotating neutron star and the brightest source in this sky."

Powerful Explosions

In addition to the full-sky map, the first data from Fermi's burst monitor include records of "a gamma ray burst about once a day the highest rate of detection of any satellite," said Chip Meegan, principal investigator for the instrument, based at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

The bursts, which arrive from random positions all over the sky, are evidence that "all 14 of our detectors are working just beautifully," Meegan said.